Saint Therese lived in France over 100 years ago and was the youngest of nine children.  As a child, she was spoiled and sensitive and would easily cry over the slightest criticism.  On Christmas when she was 14 years old she overheard her father say something that hurt her feelings and would normally have made her burst into tears.  Instead, Jesus gave her the great grace of making her more sensitive to her father’s feelings than she was to her own, and the Little Way of Therese began.

Therese knew she wanted to be a saint, but she was also well aware of her faults and weaknesses and knew she fell far short of the holiness needed.  Instead of being discouraged, she read the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me,” and decided to become like a little child and trust completely in Jesus to carry her to heaven.  Therese knew that she could not be perfect so instead she focused on her “littleness” by filling her days will simple acts of charity.  She put the needs of others first and did all her simple tasks with great care and love.

One day, Therese noticed some flowers.  She saw their beauty and how they relied completely on God.  Therese wanted to be like those flowers and saw herself as one little flower in God’s great garden.  She knew she would not be able to perform great, heroic acts of love, so instead she took every chance to make small sacrifices; she did things she didn’t like to do with great love.  Therese had complete trust in God’s merciful love and loved Him as a little child loves her father.

When she was 15 Therese entered a Carmelite convent and began practicing her Little Way there.  The work was often hard or tedious, but she did it all with great love and no complaining.  She ate whatever was served, even the worst leftovers, without complaining.  There were other nuns there that she didn’t like, but she offered up her annoyance and treated them with such love that they never knew how she really felt.  No one ever knew about these sacrifices and no one ever told her how wonderful she was for making them.  That was exactly how she wanted it to be though, because they were all little gifts of love intended just for Jesus, and she was sure He knew all about them.
We celebrate Saint Therese’s feast each year on October 1.  If you go to Mass that day, you will hear this prayer:

God our Father, you have promised your kingdom
to those who are willing to become like little children.
Help us to follow the way of Saint Therese with confidence
so that by her prayers we may come to know your eternal glory.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.